The Opposite of Fire
by LoquaciousStar
Summary: Everyone in the guild assumed that one day, Natsu and Lucy would get together. However, things never go as planned.
1. Chapter 1

Lucy sniffed as she walked along the canal, blinking rapidly. She couldn't let herself cry. Crying was for the weak. She had cried so many times before; she was so weak. Maybe that's why Natsu-

"No," she said to herself. "Don't think about him."

Even as she told herself this, more tears gathered in her eyes. She could barely see; all she could make out were blurs.

"You've got to stop, Lucy," she muttered to herself. "No good will come...will come from..." She could no longer keep her tears in, they streamed down her face. She began to run blindly, hoping she didn't fall into the canal. Suddenly, she ran into something solid and fell backwards. She began to yell, but cut herself off as she felt a warm arm grab her by the waist to keep her from falling.

"Lucy?"

She looked up through her bangs at the person standing before her. It was Gray.

She righted herself, still keeping her head down, and Gray retracted his arm.

"Geez, Lucy, you almost sent us both into the canal. Shouldn't you watch where you're going?" Gray said as he scratched his head.

Lucy stared at his shoes. "I..I'm sorry...I'll see you later then." With that, Lucy ran around him and attempted to continue on. She would have succeeded, but Gray caught my arm with one of his large, calloused hands.

"Lucy," he said again, his voice softer this time. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Lucy respondeed sounding forced.

"Are-are you sure?"

"Please, Gray," Lucy whimpered. "Please, let me go."

"Not until you tell me what's wrong."

Lucy turned towards him and finally looked at him directly, her face still covered with rivulets of tears.

"What the-" Gray balked and finally released her arm. Not a moment after, Lucy was running again. She could hear the sound of him running after her. She still couldn't see anything. Now she was feeling light-headed. She slowed down a bit involuntarily and swayed a little. Now there were black spots swimming around in front of her. She tried to walk forward but failed and began to fall to the side. _Shouldn't I have hit the ground by now?_ With that last groggy thought, she succumbed to the darkness.

* * *

_Mmm, cinnamon..._

Lucy slowly regained awareness. She could tell she was laying on something comfortable, and there was something fuzzy on top of her. She tried to open her eyes, only to discover that they felt terribly heavy. She forced her hand up, which felt just as heavy as her eyes did, and rubbed her eyes. Then she slowly opened them.

She sat up and looked around, taking in her surroundings. She was in a bedroom. The walls were painted a deep shade of blue that matched the fluffy blanket on top of her. The bed, dresser, and other furnishings were black. There were various articles of clothing littering the floor and the surface of the dresser, and the black door was cracked open. She could hear the rattle of pans and the open and shut of an oven door from somewhere beyond there.

She looked down at herself. She was still in her clothes from before, though they looked a bit wrinkled. She slowly got out of the bed, as every one of her muscles ached.

_Where on Earth am I?_

She approached the door and crept outside. Now she was in a hallway. She followed the scent of cinnamon and found herself in the doorway of a kitchen. Inside the kitchen, facing away from her, was a shirtless Gray. He was bent over something on the counter that she couldn't see.

She coughed quietly to alert him of her presence. He whirled around.

"Lucy!" he said worriedly, walking over to where she stood. "What the hell happened to you?"

"What the hell happened to your shirt?" she retorted.

Gray looked down at himself. "What? When did that happen?!" His eyes darted around the kitchen, finally landing on a crumpled shirt on the floor. "Whoops." He trotted over and put it back on. "Anyway," he said, looking at Lucy once again. "What's going on?"

What was going on? She mentally went through everything that had happened that day. Then 'it' came back to her. She moaned and fresh tears sprang to her eyes. Her knees began to shake. "I...I'm fine."

He looked at her dubiously. "Seriously? You expect me to believe that after what happened?" She fell to the floor and began to cry. He regarded her for a minute and then picked her up princess-style. Her arms latched around his neck, and she sobbed into his chest, which was somehow shirtless again. He carried he into his sitting room. When he began to put her down on the couch, her arms tightened around him, so he sat down on the couch with her in his lap. The pair sat like that for a while, Lucy sobbing while Gray simply held her. Eventually, Lucy's tears slowed down and she began to speak.

"It..it's just...Natsu's an idiot, y-you know?"

"Amen to that," Gray said quietly.

"I found h-him at the guild yesterday, and invited him to take a walk with me. I was trying to c-confess my f-feelings b-but Lisanna came out and y-yelled that she n-needed him. His face lit u-up and he told me that h-he had to g-go cause Lisanna n-needed him. I s-said that it was f-fine and he said that I was such a g-great friend to understand and that h-he was going...he going to...ask h-her out." At this last statement, Lucy's tears started afresh. Gray didn't know what to do, so her just kept sitting there, holding her. Gray didn't know how long they sat like that. He looked down, realizing that he no longer heard her crying. She had her eyes shut, and her breathing was slow and deep. _She fell asleep! She cried herself to sleep. That bastard Natsu, he's such a moron, putting Lucy through this! As if she hasn't gone through enough already..._

He stared at her for a few minutes more. _She's really pretty, now that I think about it..._

Gray slowly drifted off to sleep thinking about Natsu's idiocy for picking Lisanna over Lucy.


	2. Chapter 2

Lucy groaned. She was currently at Fairy Tail's bar with her head resting on her arms, a worried looking Mirajane hovering nearby. Mira decided it was time to try to approach Lucy again.

"Lucy…are you sure you're okay? You look like…well, not great."

It was true; she looked like hell. She hadn't bothered with her hair or makeup or even fashionable clothes this morning. After waking up in Gray's lap, she'd bolted. When she got home, she took a shower, as she had fallen into the river the day before. She had hurried herself because she hadn't wanted Natsu to find her in her apartment, seeking her out to tell her how his confession had gone. No, she would not have been able to hold herself together if he had visited. She had thrown on the first things she'd seen (a pair of baggy sweatpants and a worn green hoodie) and ran out the door. Then she wandered around the local shopping district for a while, trying to distract herself. She actually managed to maintain her composure until she saw a sreet performer eating fire. She sat on a nearby bench, sobs wracking her body. After crying for a solid fifteen minutes, Kana had come across her. Kana forcefully led Lucy back to the guild and sat her on a barstool in the hope that the blonde would either open up to Mira or drink herself silly. So far Lucy had done neither, simply sitting there in a depressed manner. So there she was: puffy red eyes, and a bird's nest for hair, essentially defunct.

Lucy raised her head to look at Mira. "I'm fine," she said evenly.

Mira looked hard at her. "Lucy," she said firmly. "You are not fine. Tell me what's wrong right now."

"It's nothing, really!" Mira continued to stare Lucy down. "Fine! I…fell into the river yesterday. I guess I'm just kinda shaken up."

Mira expression instantly changed to one of concern. "Oh, Lucy, you poor thing! Can you swim?"

"Yes, but I was passed out at the time," Lucy mumbled into her arms.

"What? Why were you passed out?!"

"I don't know," Lucy answered.

Mira reached out and felt Lucy's forehead. "Are you sick? Have you seen a doctor?"

"No, I'm fine. It was just a onetime thing."

"If this happens again then you need to see a doctor," the older woman said sternly said sternly. Then her voice softened, "and if you feel sick, then tell me. I want to make sure you're okay."

"Alright, Mira," the blonde said quietly, head resting on her arms again. Appeased, Mira went back to cleaning glasses.

A few moments passed and then Mira spoke up. "Hey Lucy, if you were unconscious when you fell in the river…who saved you?"

Lucy was glad that had arms were covering her face because she felt it heat up. _Wait, why was she blushing? It's not like the memory was embarrassing or anything. She had fallen into the river, and Gray, being a good person, jumped in to save her. That's all. So why did she not want to answer Mira's question?_

Lisanna saved Lucy from answering. "Mira, Lucy you'll never guess what happened!" she said excitedly.

Both girls turned to look at the flushed Lisanna. "Natsu-he just-he-ahhhhh!" She cried.

There was a moment of pregnant silence and then Mira spoke. "Natsu did something...good?"

"He confessed to me!" Lisanna yelled. Macao and Wakaba looked up from their card game at her outburst.

"Oh Lisanna that's great!" Mira said as she went around the counter to give her sister a hug.

Lucy could feel her stomach turning. Tears pricked her eyes. She had to get out of there. "YeahLisannathat'sgreatbutIjustrememberedIhav esomewheretobesobye," she yelled over her shoulder as she ran away. She held her face and could feel tears dripping through her fingers. She hit someone hard near the entrance of the guild, but she didn't stop to say sorry or even see who it was.

She ran blindly for a while. When she looked up, she realized that her feet had taken her to the park with the sakura trees. She looked up at one of the trees, remembering when Natsu and Happy had dug up a tree and sent it down the river for her. Though she would have thought it impossible, this memory made her cry even harder. She allowed herself to sink to the ground, face in her hands once again.

"H-hey, Lucy," she heard from behind her. She looked over her shoulder. Behind her was a panting, doubled over, shirtless Gray.

"Wha-what are you d-doing here?" Lucy choked out. _Why was Gray the one seeing her cry again?_

"Well, you nearly ran me over at the guild, so I figured something else had happened," he said. "Are you okay?"

_So Gray was the person I ran into._ Lucy wiped her eyes. "Yeah, I guess so, it's just…Lisanna told me that Natsu confessed. It took me by surprise." She looked at her hands.

Gray sat on the ground in front of her. "Why on Earth were you at the guild? Obviously that's the place you'd see Lisanna and the moron."

"Kana dragged me there," Lucy mumbled. Eventually Gray coaxed the whole story out of her.

"Geez, Lucy, I wasted my whole day looking for you! You should make yourself easier to find," Gray said.

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to bother anyone," Lucy said. Then she looked up as his word sank in. "Why were you looking for me?"

Gray looked to his right. "I wanted to make sure you were okay. You left so fast this morning. Also, I wanted…to give you these." He pulled a small bag out of his jacket and handed them to her. Lucy looked at the bag, which contained cookies, and then back at Gray. He blushed a bit as their eyes met. "They're snickerdoodles. Ur taught me and Lyon to make them. She said they could always make a person feel better, so after I got you back to my apartment, I figured you might want some comfort food. I needed something to do with myself anyway," he finished gruffly, looking away once again.

Lucy felt a warmth blossom in the pit of her stomach. _Gray was such a nice person!_ She felt here eyes well up again, but this time with tears of happiness.

Gray looked at her face, his eyes widening."Gahh! I'm sorry! I thought you'd like them!" He was waving his hands around in confusion. "I-I just-please don't cry! Please don't-"

Lucy threw herself at him, threw her arms around his neck, and put her head on his bare shoulder. It was surprisingly warm for an ice mage. He slowly placed his arms around the blonde's waist. "Thank you, Gray," she murmured. "This is one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me."

The pair sat like that for a minute before breaking apart. Lucy looked at the bag in her hand, grinning bigger at the sight. She withdrew a cookie and took an experimental bite. Gray watched her with wide eyes as she chewed thoughtfully. Then, Lucy looked up at Gray, grin wide and eyes sparkling. "These are amazing, Gray! Here you have one too!" Lucy shoved a cookie into Gray's hand and took another bite of her cookie. It really was incredible. Perfectly chewy and not too sweet.

_So that's why his apartment smelled like cinnamon! He was baking…Who would've thought?_


	3. Chapter 3

Lucy awoke to a fuzzy blue thing burrowing into her stomach. She blearily blinked a few times before fully focusing on the thing on her tummy.

"Lucy!" exclaimed Happy, looking up.

"Stupid cat," Lucy mumbled with a small smile. She sat up and yawned, sending the cat into her lap. Happy grasped her shirt in a little hug. "Well aren't you friendly today…" she said scooping the cat up to cuddle.

"Aye. You too," Happy said. "Normally you would have thrown me out of a window by now!"

Lucy chuckled quietly. "I guess I'm just in a good mood today." She stood up, still holding Happy, and went into the kitchen. She filled her teapot and set it on the stove. She grabbed a fish out of her refrigerator and set it and the cat on her counter. She bustled around for a few more minutes fixing her breakfast and tea before sitting down. Sipping her tea, Lucy turned towards Happy, who was halfway through his fish. "So what brings you here, stupid cat?"

"Natsu kicked me out!" Happy whined. Lucy felt her stomach drop; of course HE would come up in their conversation. She was talking to Happy, after all. _Geez Lucy, keep it together._

"Why'd he kick you out?" Lucy asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

"He said he was gonna clean cuz Lisanna is coming over tonight for a date!" The cat pouted. Lucy felt her stomach drop further, something she hadn't thought possible only a moment before. She nudged her bowl of oatmeal away from herself, no longer hungry at all. It had been a little over a week since Natsu and Lisanna had gotten together, and Lucy still felt depressed about the entire affair. It was a different stage of sadness than before, though. Now, instead of wanting to sob her eyes out every time she heard Natsu's name, she just wanted to curl up in a ball and become invisible. Not exactly much of an improvement, so Lucy had been avoiding the guild like the plague. This was actually the first time she'd talked to Happy since then. She stared sullenly at her guild mark, allowing the darkness to swallow her for justa moment, before looking back at the cat on her counter.

"Sounds…fun," Lucy said quietly.

"NOOOOOO! All Natsu does is go out with Lisanna, and when he's not on a date, he's talking or daydreaming about her! He's ignoring me!" Happy wailed. He sprouted his wings and launched himself at Lucy. She caught him and hugged the sad cat close. "To top it all off, Natsu hasn't taken a mission since then, so we have no money left for fish!"

Lucy looked down at the crying Happy. She could relate; not exactly, but she sort of knew what he was going through. "How about we take a mission then?"

Happy looked up. "Wh-what?" His voice quivered.

"Let's take a mission!" Lucy said with forced enthusiasm. "Just the two of us!" Happy looked up at her dubiously. "Oh, come on, it's not like I'm helpless. I've got my keys, but we don't have to pick a difficult mission. You said Natsu was cleaning, right? Then let's go to the guild now and find a mission!"

"Alright," Happy said, looking a little happier. "Can we buy fish with the reward money?"

"Sure, stupid cat, we'll stop as soon as we finish the request," Lucy said, grabbing another fish out of her fridge and putting the cat down. "I'll go get changed now, 'kay?"

"Aye," Happy mumbled through a mouthful of fish.

Lucy thought to herself as she contemplated her clothing options. _It would be good to get away, right? It's just for a few days…It'll be good for me!_

With renewed determination, Lucy got dressed.

* * *

"Lu-chan!" A voice rang out over the raucous guild.

"Levy-chan!" Lucy yelled back, running over to hug her blue-haired friend. "How are you?"

"I'm well, but how are you? I haven't seen you in a while! Are you avoiding me?" Levy asked with a pout.

"Of course not, silly! I've been…working on my novel for the past few days," Lucy said, plastering a fake smile on her face.

"Lucy!" a loud voice boomed. "Where have you been? Explain yourself!"

Lucy turned around and grimaced. "Sorry, Erza. I've been working on my novel for the past few days."

Erza didn't look convinced. "Are you certain? I can beat someone up if that's what you require," she said with a serious face while equipping one of her swords.

"No, no, I promise I'm fine," Lucy exclaimed, waving her hands in what she thought was a reassuring manner.

"Alright. What brings you to the guild then?" the red-head asked.

"Oh, I was looking to take a job with Happy," Lucy explained, gesturing to the request board.

"Well then you better get to it," Erza deadpanned. "However, make sure to visit me as soon as you return. I need to discuss something with you."

"Wha—"

"Just make sure to visit me when you return! Now go; stop slacking!" Erza turned the slightly confused blonde around and shoved her towards the request board. Lucy stumbled but caught herself and continued in the set direction. She contemplated various requests before settling on a simple-looking one. It was a request for assistance in a clothing store. The reward was only 30,000 jewels but Lucy figured she could take another job when she got back in order to make rent in time.

Lucy took to request sheet off the bulletin board and wandered over to the bar, where Mira was tending and Kana was passed out. The older woman greeted Lucy warmly. "Lucy! I haven't seen you in a while. Have you been doing alright?"

"Yeah, Mira, I'm doing loads better," Lucy answered with a smile. "Thanks for worrying about me."

"Oh, it was nothing to be thanked for," Mira said, brushing the comment away. "What can I do for you?"

"Happy and I would like to take this request." Lucy handed Mira the request sheet. The lovely bartender pulled out a large book, flipped to a marked page, and began writing.

"Okay…" Mira mumbled to herself. "Lucy and…Happy…request…30,000…"She looked up from the book. "Well, I guess there's no way to know how long thing job will take. With this, you're all set! I hope you stay safe and are successful!"

"I hope so, too," Lucy said as she turned. "Bye, Mira!"

Lucy glanced around the guild, looking for a small splash of blue that would tell her where Happy was. Her eyes landed on a blue head, but the wrong one. "Juvia!" Lucy called, heading in the direction of the blue.

Juvia turned around. "Oh, hello Lucy."

"When did you get back from your job?" Lucy inquired.

"Late last night." Juvia answered, a faint blush coloring her otherwise pale face.

Lucy arched an eyebrow. "Did something interesting happen?"

"N-nothing in particular," Juvia mumbled. Lucy eyed the water mage skeptically.

Happy flew over and landed on the blonde's shoulder."Luuu-cyy! Did you find us a job yet?"

"Course I did, stupid cat!" Lucy exclaimed handing Happy the request sheet. "We'll talk later, alright Juvia? I want to know what's going on." Lucy said to the blue-haired girl with a wink.

"But th-there's really noth—"

"Time to go Lucy!" Happy exclaimed. He sprouted his wings and grabbed the back of Lucy's shirt.

"Later, Juvia!" she called as the exceed flew out the door of the guild.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the filler chapter. It was necessary, I swear! Also, sorry for the belated update. Pretty please review? I love getting your opinions on my stories. Oh and Happy New Year!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hi. Erm…it's been a while hasn't it? Sorry about that... What can I say, really, other than junior year truly is as insane as they say it is. **

* * *

"Luu-cy, are we nearly there?" the blue exceed whined from his perch on her head.

"No! Now hush or I'll make you walk," the blond mage answered. Her threat of being forced to walk kept Happy from saying anything more, so Lucy went back to consulting the job request form. It said that the shop was at 1402 Crimson Avenue in the city of Elmwood. She and Happy had taken a train from Magnolia to Elmwood (A train ride without the constant complaining of a certain rosy-haired someone? Miraculous!) and had been wandering around the city aimlessly since, searching for the elusive address. Lucy really hadn't banked on Elmwood being so large. She'd never been before, but she had to say, she really did like the town.

Currently, she was in the shopping district. She had thus far avoided the siren call of the shops, but she'd just spotted this downright adorable bookshop. The windows were filled with precariously stacked books, and beyond that Lucy could see shelves crammed full of more. However, it was a large black book in the window that had initially caught Lucy's attention. It was just the kind of book she adored: old, yellowed, and leather-bound. Strange as it sounded, Lucy loved nothing more than the smell of old books. Before even reading a sentence, Lucy could be transported to a simpler time. The book's spine read_ Treasure Island _in peeling gold letters. Lucy immediately recalled the story she'd read long ago, from a similar book in the Heartfillia Manor's immense library. She sighed, desperately wanting to enter the shop and inquire about the book, but her sense of duty had kept her merely lingering near the window or the store. She was about to indulge herself and just go in when the building's address number caught her eye: 1403.

_Wait a minute…_ Lucy spun around scanning the bustling street around her. Her eyes found what they'd been searching for: a street sign. She'd stumbled upon Crimson Avenue without realizing it! Whoops.

Lucy wandered a bit to the left of the building, back the way she'd came and saw number 1404: A small café. She went the other way and found herself in front of a very impressive building indeed.

It was a huge, three story building of pure white marble. Ivy crept up the corners of the building, stopping just short of the roof. Lucy searched the building for a sign indicating the name of the store. Upon finding none, she settled for glancing through the closest window. Curtained. Her interest piqued, Lucy reached for the door handle.

She was met by a smiling attendant. "Hello," said the much too chipper woman. "Name?"

"Erm…" Lucy didn't want to say Heartfillia. It might lead to an…uncomfortable situation. "Lucy."

"Well, 'Lucy'," the woman answered, still smiling her too-wide smile. "I'm afraid you have to have an appointment to shop in here. If you'll please step outside," The woman began ushering her out the door.

"Wait," Lucy exclaimed frantically. "I'm from Fairy Tail! I received a request from this store!" Lucy pulled out her request form and waved it around like a flag.

The attendant took the form and examined it carefully, her expression never faltering. "All right then. However, I'm afraid no pets are allowed inside the building. Store policy."

Darn, Lucy had forgotten Happy was curled up on her head._ Hmm, what to do, what to do…_

"What pet?" Lucy said.

The woman's smile twitched. "The one that is currently on your head."

"On my head?" Lucy asked, doing her best to sound incredulous. "What on Earth are you talking about?" To clarify that there was definitely no cat on her head, Lucy reached up to pat her head. Happy had caught on to the situation at this point and quickly sprouted his wings. He flew just above Lucy's hand, which was now resting on her head.

The attendant's eyes bulged and her smile was replaced with a gaping mouth. "Wha-wha-wha-"

_Victory!_ "Are you alright, ma'am? You don't look well," Lucy inquired, trying to keep the glee she felt from her voice. Lucy returned her hand to her side and Happy settled back on her head.

The woman simply stood there frozen for a moment before (forcefully) collecting herself. "I'm sorry. Please follow me," she said, smile still absent and voice sounding strained. The woman lead Lucy through a door marked "Employees Only" and into a narrow hallway. The attendant walked a while, and then stopped beside a large door to look at Lucy and Happy. "Someone should be waiting for you beyond this door." With that, the woman started to walk away. She'd only gone a few steps before she stopped again. "Oh, and welcome to Heart Kreuz."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Ha…ha….ha….awkward…3 months…I can't even come up with a decent excuse, so sorry…**

* * *

Lucy blinked once. Twice. _Wait a second…Heart Kreuz….the designer…is this….their headquarters?!_

Not wasting another second, Lucy seized the handle and flung open the door.

Inside, the blonde was greeted with a flurry of activity. Everywhere she looked, there were bolts of fabric, racks of clothing, or frazzled attendants. Sprinkled throughout the crowd were gorgeous women in Heart Kreuz apparel that Lucy could only assume to be models._ Is there a fashion show coming up? I guess it is about time for them to release their fall line…_

Deciding she had lingered in the doorway long enough, Lucy approached an official-looking woman with a clipboard, Happy flying about a foot above her head to get a better view of the chaos. "Excuse me, ma'am? I'm from—"

"Look, just follow the other girls, will you?" the woman snapped, hardly glancing up from her clipboard. "Hair and make-up is being done in the back." Lucy gave her a blank stare. The woman sighed exasperatedly. "Do I have to do everything myself? Come on then!" With that, the woman grasped Lucy's arm with a grip of iron, her manicured fingernails digging into Lucy's arm painfully.

"Wait!" Lucy cried, but the woman merely ignored her and dragged her towards a cluster of vanities and people wielding blow-dryers.

The woman marched up to a man in an apron who was booming orders to the people in the immediate vicinity. "Deal with her," the woman half-yelled, thrusting Lucy towards the man. Lucy stumbled at this sudden movement, but Happy, who'd been flying close to her, caught her by the back of her shirt. Lucy mumbled a thanks that was inaudible over the din.

"Melissa," the man boomed, "Here." The man shoved the newly-righted Lucy towards a pretty redhead holding a curling iron. Lucy stumbled yet again, but was this time caught by "Melissa", who maneuvered Lucy into the chair with a practiced ease.

A few hours later, Lucy found herself standing in a changing booth, her hair and makeup done flawlessly, being dressed by a few weary interns. It wasn't really weird though; this was how she always used to get dressed back when she'd still been Lady Lucy. Actually, the dress they were currently lacing her up in looked a little like something she would have worn back then, albeit a tad more exposing than any of those dresses had been.

It was strapless and a sort of a greenish blue. It was a simple A-line with a sliver of the rigid bodice cut out, exposing the skin in the very center of her chest. It fell to the floor gracefully with small, seemingly random black shapes stitched on near her left leg. However, Lucy marveled at her reflection in the mirror, as the small shapes formed an intricate rose with a leaf that made its way up the dress. Lucy had managed to secure her keys in her corset before the attendants had entered with the dress, so even though they weren't exactly accessible, she still had them.

This whole day had been rather flattering. People who worked at Heart Kreuz, THE Heart Kreuz, had mistaken her, Lucy, for a model! Happy had gotten caught in a rapidly-moving clothes rack a few hours earlier, and Lucy had seen no glimpses of blue since. Ah well, he'd turn up eventually.

The next couple of hours absolutely flew by. Lucy had walked the runway in a few different dresses, each more impossibly stunning than the last. She was currently waiting in her fourth and final dress. It was a regal purple with a knee-length skirt and sleeves that trailed to the floor.

"Number 32!" a voice barked, and Lucy was pushed forward by an attendant.

Lucy stepped out from behind the curtain and began her long procession down the catwalk. She composed her face in an alluring half-smile she'd perfected earlier that day. She reached the end, posed a few times, and turned around to retreat back behind the curtain. Lucy only made it a few steps before a deafening boom sounded behind her and a shockwave threw her forward.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Sorry about the lack of fluff for the past few chapters. There will be more and I promise I know where I'm going with this story! In addition, part of the reason I've neglected my fanfictions is because I made my first ever AMV! My YouTube username is the same as my one on here, LoquaciousStar, and I'd love, love, LOVE you forever if you checked it out**

**Anyway, onto the story!**

* * *

Lucy groaned. There never was a simple mission, was there? She picked herself up out of a mess of chairs and looked at her dress. There was now only one long sleeve, as the other had been torn by a chair leg. _It was so pretty too…_

Lucy spun on her heel to make whatever caused her dress's destruction pay, pulling her keys out simultaneously. What met her eyes was somewhat shocking.

There was a mage with a shaved head and dark tattoos everywhere wreaking havoc on the room. He appeared to weld some sort of explosion magic, allowing him to blow up nearby things at will. However, this isn't what really shocked Lucy. What really shocked her was the dark-haired mage putting his hand together while yelling, "Ice Make: Lance!"

"Gray?!" Lucy cried, but her yell was lost in the screams and explosions. Hardly thinking twice, Lucy yanked her one remaining sleeve off, giving her much-needed maneuverability. She plunged her hand into the front of her dress and whipped out her keys from her corset with only minimal difficulty and awkward ness. Then she scanned the scene unfolding before her with a critical eye.

Gray and the other mage were duking it out in the center of the room, surrounded mounds of chairs. Gray, however, was at a slight disadvantage though because whenever he made ice, the other mage would simply blow it up. The people that had been not-so-long ago calmly watching the fashion show were now clustered around the exit, but none of the doors were open.

"Lucy!" a voice yelled from behind her. Lucy whirled around again, this time to find a certain blue feline flying in front of her.

"Happy!" Lucy gave the cat a brief hug. Then, she released him and pointed to the closest door. "I need you to get me to that door!"

"Aye!" Happy flew her to the door, however as she was floating above the mass of screaming people, it would be nearly impossible to land without getting her or Happy hurt. Now that she was a closer, Lucy could see the frantic people pushing, shoving, screaming, biting, and fighting their way to the doors that wouldn't open.

Lucy shrugged and, seeing no other options, screamed, "Open, gate of the golden bull, Taurus!" The bull fell from her key's tip with a moo and fell on a few unsuspecting people below, knocking them out. He, however, quickly jumped up. People scrambled out of his way as he charged at the door, ax drawn back. He knocked the door clean off its hinges and had the other two doors done within seconds. "Thanks, Taurus!" Lucy hollered as she closed her spirit's gate.

"Anything for you and your wondrous bod, Miss Lucy!" the pervert called back.

Happy flew to the ground and put Lucy down. At this point, most people had fled the room, leaving just the mages. Lucy ran towards the dueling mages.

Gray was doubled over panting. The other guy didn't appear to have a scratch on him. "Ice…make…lance…" Gray huffed while attempting to assume the appropriate position for the magic. The other man merely held an arm out and the ground underneath Gray exploded.

"Gray!" Lucy shrieked. She could feel stings from where the bits of gravel had grazed her skin, but she hardly noticed. "Open gate of the giant crab, Cancer!"

"What can I do for you, ebi?" Cancer asked, scissors poised and prepared to cut.

"Hold him off," Lucy yelled, already running to the unmoving Gray. She knelt beside him and felt his neck for a pulse; it took her a minute, but she found an unwavering, though faint, pulse. She breathed a sigh of relief, but her rush of happiness was short-lived. The ground below her exploded, throwing her and Gray away from each other.

She slowly got to her feet, glaring at the tattooed man through her bangs. Cancer had returned to the spirit world, having already been defeated. "You dare hurt someone who is unable to protect themselves?" she bellowed. "That's low and cowardly. I will make you pay!" The man simply laughed. "I will make you pay," she repeated quieter, more to herself than to him. "Open gate of the archer, Sagittarius! Open gate of the scorpion, Scorpio!" The spirits materialized and looked at her questioning. "Let's win this!"


End file.
